Harry Partch: The Wayward

In many years of listening to the wild, wonderful and highly idiosyncratic and innovative music of Harry Partch, it was long hoped to see a performance of his work using the adapted and custom built instruments, which are fantastic to see as well as to hear, and that opportunity finally came a few weeks ago at the REDCAT and Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theatre in Los Angeles.  

The Partch Ensemble presented the program "Bewitching Petals," which combines the names of two of the composer's notable works, The Bewitched, of which some excerpts were presented of the 1956 piece, and And on the Seventh Day Petals Fell in Petaluma, from a decade later also comprising portions.  The other two works were "Listening to Lu-Tzu" by Ensemble leader John Schneider, using text from the great 8th -century Chinese poet, Li Po, some of whose verse was put to music by Partch in his early years of writing, this being the early 1930s, and "Parable of the Bitter," a brand-new piece by Daniel Corral, also an Ensemble member.

The concert was just outstanding with the phenomenal sounds of such instruments (Partch had two dozen of his invention) as the Chromolodeon, Cloud Chamber Bowl, Diamond Marimba, Drone Devil, Eroica, Gourd Tree, Spoils of War, Surrogate Kithara and the Zymo-Xyl, tuned to the 43 microtones to the octave that marked Partch's monophonic system.  Because he eschewed Bach's equal temperament, the notes sound out of tune to someone not familiar with Partch's method, but attuning the listening as well as noting the frequent use of small groups, duets, trios and so on, as well as appreciating the heavily percussive nature of the music helps to better understand what was behind the thinking of this unique composer.  A healthy sense of humor helps, too.

The eleven members of the Ensemble also frequently switched instruments, another unusual element of the concert and there were nine guests, some playing more traditional instruments like the bass clarinet, clarinet and piccolo, while there was a soprano voice, as well.  The interplay, often very complex and compelling, drew this listener back and forth, up and down across the stage in a way not experienced with traditional concerts.  Schneider's solo rendering of the Li Po piece was deeply immersive and powerful with his stentorian voice and the Adapted Guitar II sounding like a Chinese ch'in.  In all, it was a truly memorable and unique concertgoing experience and a plan to perform all of The Bewitched next year is eagerly anticipated.

Of three discs by the Ensemble purchased at intermission, the one featured here is The Wayward, the fourth and latest of a series by the group on the small, but important, label, Bridge.  Given Partch's years traveling the country, riding the rails as a hobo, and experiencing first-hand a subculture of Depression-era America that reminds this blogger of the homelessness crisis of our time, it is particularly striking to hear the music and the lyrics to such pieces as "Barstow," "The Letter," and, especially, the amazing "U.S. Highball," all composed between 1940 and 1955, with the former amended in 1968.

Also very impressive is "Ulysses at the Edge," dubbed "A Minor Adventure in Rhythm," and with a bonus impro version of the 1955-1962 work, to boot.  There are various recordings of the pieces on the recording, but it is always interesting to hear those rearranged in various sequences, as well as the quality based on the recording environment, mastering, and other aspects, not to mention the technology of a given time.  This album, like the others acquired, is beautifully played and recorded and the Ensemble and Bridge deserve every kudo for their impressive efforts.

One last word about the show that made it even more memorable.  At the end, the audience was encouraged to go to the stage for the "petting zoo," seeing and touching/playing the instruments, with Ensemble members to answer questions.  A friend that we sat with, Robert Portillo, works on some of these instruments and remarked that he'd never seen such engagement before at these "petting zoos."  The 15-minute opportunity was a great way to end a stunning evening, with the memory enlivened by this and the other discs brought back from the performance.

George Crumb: Complete Crumb Edition, Volume 11

Still with us at age 91, George Crumb is one of the most fascinating of modern composers, creating a wide range of music for ensembles of many sizes and pieces that go from the immensely powerful and dramatic to the mysterious and subtle.  This blogger's first exposure to his music came with the Kronos Quartet's 1990 album Black Angels and Crumb's title piece was staggering to hear for a complete novice to classical, much less the so-called "avant-garde," music.

In acquiring a number of albums of the composer's works over the years, among the most enjoyable are several of the Complete Crumb Edition series by the great Bridge Records.  Today's featured volume is the eleventh which spans time and type in a very enjoyable and enlightening way.  The first third, roughly, of the album consists of an early work "Variazoni" for orchestra and it definitely provides plenty of variation with elements of the ensemble, as well as the whole orchestra, and a range of powerful intense movements to quieter, contemplative ones with plenty of space left to enhance the sense of mystery or foreboding.

Nearly a half-century later is "Otherworldly Resonances" for a pair of amplified pianos and which is considered the second part of "Zeitgeist," featured in the fourth volume of the series (which this blogger also has).  The first movement's "Double Helix" utilizes an ostinato and ornamentation that suggests the DNA structure, while the following "Celebration and Ritual" explores a range of sounds that include ebullient and dynamic exchanges and what the composer called "mysterious and brooding" elements.  "Palimpsest" features a trio of layered sections moving from "shadowy, ghostly" sounds to  "pale and distant" element and finally what is denoted to be a layer that "projects most clearly and vividly."

The remaining roughly half-hour highlights a major collaborator of Crumb's, the incredible mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani, who is showcased with her remarkable range of styles with such pieces as "Night of the Four Moons," written after the 1969 moon landing and which includes unusual instrumentation like banjo, electric cello and percussion along with woodwinds, while DeGaetani sings from poems by Crumb's favorite poet, Federico García Lorca (tragically murdered by Franco's Fascist police in Spain in the 1930s).  Also included are 1984's "The Sleeper" based on a poem by Edgar Allan Poe and "Three Early Songs," written by a teenage Crumb for his future wife and utilizing poems from obscure poets Robert Southey (early 19th century) and Sara Teasdale (early 20th century.)  There is a tremendous range of musical and vocalized elements here and provide an excellent bookend to the orchestra work that began this fine retrospective of nearly six decades of a great composer.

Elliott Carter: 16 Compositions (2002-2009)

I finished recently a book on the music of the astounding Elliott Carter, whose work continues to amaze because of its complexity, richness, and wide range of expression.  The book was often a tough slog when it came to intricate and rigorous technical explanations of the construction of pieces and the often intimidating terminologies employed in musicology.  Still, what did come through for a total amateur was Carter's innovations in harmony, time and other structural elements, and most especially in his use of rhythm.

The book definitely made listening to Carter's work more worthwhile in trying to pick out where the composer employed his creativity and innovation.  An example of this is with 16 Compositions (2002-2009), another excellent issue in a series by Bridge Records, which produces great recordings by modern composers.  The 2010 double-disc surveys a wide range of symphonic, ensemble, solo and choral works in a period in which the composer was in his mid-90s to early 100s.

That's one of the many remarkable aspects about Carter in that he was very active making amazing music at a very advanced stage in life and doing so with all the exploratory creativity he displayed throughout his career.  In fact, he finished his last piece just three months before he died in late 2012, a few weeks shy of his 104th birthday.  So, this survey has a lot to enjoy, often in brief pieces, and featuring typically unusual instrumentation, like solo works for marimba and bassoon, along with more standard large and small group and solo types.

George Crumb: Ghosts from Alhambra/Voices from a Forgotten World

George Crumb's remarkable music includes frequent references to Spain, including his fascination with the poems of the tragic Federico Garcia Lorca, and "Ghosts of Alhambra" is a seven-part suite composed in 2009 of remarkable interest based on Lorca's 1921 "Poem of the Deep Song" written for traditional flamenco performances held at the historic Alhambra.  This chamber work features a male baritone, a guitarist and a percussionist and the voice lends a sombre and forbidding aspect to the mysterious voicings of the guitar and an often rumbling of the percussion.

The "American Songbook" series by Crumb is not about standard pop fare, but an unusual look at a variety of pieces that reflect what the composer identifies as from all directions of the compass on the continent and incorporating native Indian themes, reimaginings of popular music pieces and other music reflecting the diversity of the United States.  The 2006 "Voices from a Forgotten World" turned out to be an added chapter to what was slated to be a four-part series and continued on to other parts.

There are ten pieces in this set, ranging from 1 1/2 to over 9 minutes and reflecting a great diversity of types of material.  There are two voices, a baritone and a mezzo-soprano with the instrumentation consisting of amplified piano and four percussionists employing a wide range of types.  Crumb subtitled these "A Cycle of American Songs from North and South, East and West" and there are pieces referencing native peoples, New England, Appalachia and the South, but they also reflect time periods from the 17th century to the first half of the 20th and themes varying from native concerns to labor to takes on Stephen Foster's "Beautiful Dreamer."

The songs in "Voices from a Forgotten World" also reflect myth, humor, pathos and other emotional ranges and, as is often Crumb's way, there is a great deal of foreboding and mystery to much of the cycle, while "Somebody Got Lost in a Storm" is jarring, intense and powerful with the percussion and piano reflecting the element of the storm in a dramatic fashion.

This album is the fifteenth in a series of the complete works of Crumb and Starobin's involvement is notable because, in 1981, he established the Bridge label which issued the recording.  He deserves kudos for his dedication to this great composer and issuing beautifully performed and recorded albums like this.

Elliott Carter: Eight Compositions (1948-1993)

This excellent disc from Bridge Records came out in 1994 in commemoration of composer Elliott Carter's 85th birthday.  At the time, it was reasonable to assume that Carter's long career would soon come to a natural close, but he lived for almost two more decades, passing away in November 2012, a month shy of his 104th birthday.

Eight Compositions (1948-1993) is a diverse and exciting overview of works for solos, duos, and trios and shows a great range of compositional formats and elements, from solo pieces for clarinet, flute, violin, and, unusually, guitar and some shorter pieces, including these solo works, to longer compositions, including the fine piano and violin duet "Duo" and the fantastic early work, 1948's "Sonata for Violoncello and Piano."

The performers from The Group for Contemporary Music, founded by pianist Charles Wuorinen and flautist Harvey Sollberger, who appear on the recording, are uniformly excellent and include Fred Sherry, a cellist whose work on John Zorn recordings is prominent; clarinetist Charles Neidich, whose rendering of "Gra" opens the album nicely; Rolf Schulte, violin, who is on three pieces; Martin Goldray, also on piano on the aforementioned "Duo"; and guitarist David Starobin, whose showcase, "Changes" was written for him by Carter and who founded and still leads the Bridge label with his wife Becky, executive producer of this disc.

Filling 78 and 1/2 minutes, the album is a phenomenal overview of forty-five years of Carter' diverse portfolio of contemporary classical music.  The liners by David Schiff include a concise summary in one paragraph of Carter's composing philosophy, including the observation that the music "often suggests an argument, sometimes between many parties, at other times an internal dialogue."  With the composer's polyphonic approach, this is an interesting way to interpret the music, especially the basic concept of dialogue, with instruments speaking to one another and/or to the audience.

For something this modern, there is still lyricism, soulfulness, emotive expression, and accessibility to so much of what Carter has composed, even if approaches to harmony, rhythm, and time reflect experimentation that mark his music as quite different from earlier composers.  Certainly, listening to Carter's music through the solo, duet and trio forms helps isolate the qualities noted above, which can be more difficult with larger ensembles and orchestral settings.

Eight Compositions (1948-1993) is, in any case, a great listening experience, representing a broad overview of pieces from a true American original.

Elliott Carter:  Eight Compositions (1948-1993) (Bridge Records, 1994)

1.  Gra  4:35
2.  Enchanted Preludes  6:30
3.  Duo  21:27
4.  Scrivo in Vento  5:55
5.  Changes  7:46
6.  Con Leggerezza Pensosa (Ommagio a Italo Calvino)  5:17
7.  Riconoscenza por Goffredo Petrassi  6:30
8.  Sonata for Violoncello and Piano  19:55

P.S.--though this blogger doesn't own any of his records, a recent flipping of the channels late at night came across a documentary on Pete Seeger, who died today at 94.  May he rest in peace.